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Parenting

07th Feb 2021

If you think homeschooling is hard – spare a thought for Sue Radford right now

Trine Jensen-Burke

There are days when I find myself about ready to tear my hair out from trying to hold down my own job with also helping my 6- and 10-year-old with homeschooling.

From missing Seesaw passwords to Mathseeds meltdowns, I basically feel there are days when I am hanging on by a thread, praying schools will be back soon and actual teachers will be taking over this s**tshow.

However, here’s the thing – while trying to homeschool two kids is having me tethering on the brink of sanity, imagine if you were in charge of NINE kids and their at-home education.

Sounds crazy? Well, this is what Sue Radford, mother of Britain’s largest family, had to say about homeschooling nine(!) out of her 22(!!) children right now.

In a video shared to the family’s YouTube channel, Sue, admits home-schooling nine little ones ‘couldn’t get any worse’ as she endures daily battle to ‘prise them out of bed’ and into Zoom classes.

 

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We can only imagine that keeping the household going with such an extra-large family is work enough – and then throw in homeschooling on top – and we can well imagine the stress levels the 45-year-old is operating under.

Sue, of course, shares her 22 children with husband Noel Radford, 49. In her latest vlog, the busy mum provides an insight into the family’s current morning routine ahead of a day of virtual learning.

In the video, we see Sue attempting to make breakfast for everyone, and sort out technical difficulties for one of her children. At the same time, one of her other children is seen asking her questions about their work, while another begins to cry. Sounds stressful? It makes me feel guilty for even thinking that having two to homeschool is tricky!

At present, children James, 16, Ellie, 14, Aimee, 13, Josh, 12, Max, 11, Tillie, nine, Oscar, eight, Casper, seven and Hallie, four, are all distance learning from the Radford family home in Lancashire.

‘I don’t know about anyone else but I am just so ready for them to go back to school,” Sue admitted in her YouTube video.

“I am finding it really hard work, especially when we’ve got so many to homeschool.”

She then explains that the secondary school kids aren’t too bad, as they will do their own thing.

“But primary school is just hard work. It has not been easy at all. But we’re all in the same boat aren’t we.”

The Radfords, who starred in Channel 4’s 15 Kids and Counting back in 2012, now regularly shared vlogs of their day to day experiences as such a large family, and also have a large following on their Instagram account.

Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 30, Sophie, 26, Chloe, 25, Jack, 22, Daniel, 20, Luke, 19, Millie, 19, Katie, 17, James, 16, Ellie, 14, Aimee, 13, Josh, 12, Max, 11, Tillie, nine, Oscar, eight, Casper, seven, Hallie, four, Phoebe, three, Archie, two, and Bonnie, one and Heidi Rose, five months.

Chris and Sophie have moved out of the family home.